While Mr Abbott might feel suitably aggrieved over the leaking of his policies prior to the election, his continued reluctance to co-operate with the three independents who have the power and position to directly influence who eventually becomes the next prime minister does nothing to help his cause.

Mr Abbott has registered his protest and it has been noted, but if only one side of politics bothers to hand over important materials that will help the independents make a better informed decision, there will ultimately be no decision to make.

Mr Abbott would be far better served by becoming a participant in this process, and perhaps insisting upon a far greater level of scrutiny and supervision of those in Treasury who will be tasked with costing the various policies.

In the meantime, Australians will only become suspicious as to the merit or otherwise of the oppositions’ policy costings, and more importantly, so too will the independents.

Having maintained a relatively calm and cool composure for so long throughout the campaign, it would be an incredible irony if the opposition leader was to subsequently lose out not because of the way Australians voted in this election, but because of the way he refused to co-operate with the independents who have the power to determine who the next prime minister will be.